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The people were astonished at his teaching.
This
Sunday is the fifth Sunday of the month, so we will have a second collection
for our parish St. Vincent de Paul Society. In addition to your donation of
money, please bring canned goods and other non-perishable foods to replenish
the food pantry. People are hungry all year around. Please be generous.
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One Reason I Am Against Abortion
Last week we experienced yet another anniversary of Roe versus Wade, the decision by the US Supreme Court making abortion legal. The SJV Communication Team regrets that we did not have an article about this, but we will try to be ready next year, before the anniversary.
Of course, as Roman Catholics, we are always called to be pro-life, valuing every human life as a precious gift of God. For more information on Catholic pro-life values, click here. Rather than give you more statistics about the abortion crisis in our country, I offer you a true story, just one of the many reasons why I am personally against abortion.
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The Annual Diocesan Appeal (ADA) Campaign, "Proclaim God's
Message",
is the 2006 major fund raising drive for the Diocese of San Jose. Each
year, the fifty-two parishes and missions of our local Church take part
in the ADA drive to raise funds for the support of
You should have received your ADA envelope by now through the mail, but if you have not, the Parish Office has plenty of extra blank pledge forms, envelopes, brochures, letters, etc. There will be extra blank materials available in the church or they can be obtained in the Parish Office during business hours. Each parish is assigned a specific goal to meet. Since the Bishop will be visiting our parish on February 5, it would be very good if we could meet our goal by that date. For more information about the Annual Diocesan Appeal, click here.
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Vision of Justice: Adult Education Opportunity
Deanery 6, the ten * parishes working together in our area, invites all interested persons to attend a day of Catholic Social Justice education. We are hoping that each parish will send at least ten people. Workshops will be offered in Spanish, Vietnamese, and English. The Keynote Speaker will be the Reverend Paul Fitzgerald, SJ, from Santa Clara University (pictured at right).
To register, please mail the following information to Stella Alvarez, 3044 Everdale Drive, San Jose, CA 95148, with a check for $10 to cover cost of materials and food. Make the check out to 'Most Holy Trinity Church', by February 15.
Name:
_______________________________________________________________
Scholarship funds are available. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. If you can afford more, donations are most welcome. For more information, call Stella Alvarez at 223-9624. * The ten parishes in deanery 6 include: St. Francis of Assisi, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Five Wounds, Most Holy Trinity, St. Maria Goretti, St. Patrick, St. John Vianney, Christ the King, St. Albert, Holy Cross.
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St. John Vianney Parish is featured in this month's Valley Catholic! Ray Turner wrote and submitted a story about our Sister Parish and it is printed on page 24 of this month's Valley Catholic, the San Jose Diocesan newspaper. Click here to read it.
The Valley Catholic is provided to registered parishioners who donate to the Annual Diocesan Appeal, are recognized donors to the parish, are volunteers, employees, or organizational leaders in the parish or school, if they are retired or confined to home, or if they contribute at least $50 annually. If you are not receiving the Valley Catholic, please contact the Parish Office to see how you can be added to the subscription list. Bishop McGrath will visit St. John Vianney Parish on Sunday, February 5, at the 9:00 AM liturgy. The Diocese of San Jose is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the founding of the diocese. As part of that celebration, Bishop McGrath will visit each parish. The celebration actually started on the First Sunday of Advent (New Year for the Church) with a Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral Basilica. A new processional cross, especially designed for our diocese, was introduced. Each parish has a small tile for the processional cross representing that particular parish community. As the bishop visits each parish during this anniversary year, the tile will be installed onto the back side of the processional cross. In this way, each parish will be represented whenever the bishop takes part in a liturgical procession. For more information about the processional cross, click here.
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Solidarity Dinner
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
on Thursday,
February 2,
2006, the Bellarmine College Prep community gathers to express our
solidarity with our sister community in El Salvador. For the past six
years. Bellarmine students and faculty have prayed with, reflected with,
and worked with the families of Agua Escondida in El Salvador to make
"Whatever
God does, the first outburst is always compassion."
If you cannot join us please consider making a donation. All proceeds go to funding the school and teacher that Bellarmine supports for the children of Agua who would otherwise not go to school. Please make reservations so we have a sense for the numbers. You may pay online, at the switchboard on campus, or at the door that evening, Thursday, February 2, 2006. Place is Bellarmine's Liccardo Center. Time is 6-8 PM. For more information, go to www.bcp.org, click on 'parents' in the left column, click on 'Mother's Guild', click on 'events', or call (408) 537-9288. Thank you for your consideration. In peace and solidarity, - Larry Lauro
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Ascension Parish in Saratoga is the location for an exciting monthly speaker series based on the writings of Pope John Paul II on the teachings of the Catholic Church on Social Justice. During his years as Pope, John Paul wrote extensively on all areas of Social Justice and on Justice Issues facing the world today. We are happy to welcome six individuals who are active in the Bay Area and beyond promoting and teaching the Social Justice doctrine of the Catholic Church. Please study the following schedule for the Justice Speakers Forum and mark your calendars:A Series of Six Evenings of Discussions Based on the Justice Writings of Pope John Paul II. Ascension Parish, Saratoga, 7:30 to 9:00 PM. Registration begins at 7:15 PM.
In addition to the opportunity for questions and answers, each session will include panel discussions from past and present participants in the JustFaith program of the Diocese of San Jose. Informational tables will also be set up and staffed by members of local, national, and international organizations active in promoting awareness of Justice Issues here at home and around the world. There is no admission charge, but a five dollar free-will donation is suggested and will be appreciated. Refreshments will be served. For further information, please call Fr. Charlie Dougherty at Ascension Parish, 725-3939.
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La Candelaria...Candlemas Day
February 2 is the end of Christmas for many Mexican families. It is the day the person who got the baby in the Rosca de Reyes or the Three Kings' Crown (a special Epiphany cake, baked in the shape of a crown and containing a small plastic Baby Jesus) on January 6, has a party to raise the nativity's Baby Jesus.
The lucky person usually makes or buys the baby Jesus a new outfit. Many
will kiss the Baby Jesus in his new outfit. Many more will sing to the
Baby Jesus. I remember my The feast is whatever the person wants to cook or offer. I remember a time when my nephew, who had found the Baby Jesus on Epiphany, cried and cried because he said he did not know how to cook for us. We told him peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were fine. We also reminded him he could make pizzas, his favorite. I guess he was around six years old. Many parade the Baby Jesus in his new outfit around the neighborhood, others just sit him down in a new chair, of course, and display him year round. Some families have more than one Baby Jesus. So some get put away, and some remain on display. When there are multiple Baby Jesus', there are multiple parties. Some start the parties to raise Baby Jesus just after the Three Kings Day and up until Fat Tuesday. We would love to learn about your family's tradition.
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Hispanic Youth Group and Ministry: Young people of 14 years old and up are welcome. Our first meeting will be Friday, January 27, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM at 'The Garage' in the parish office center. Our Youth Ministry will be oriented to helping our youth to grow in Catholic faith and to become part of the discipleship among our Community. We WELCOME everyone and we hope to see all our youth in our first meeting. For more information contact the Hispanic Youth Coordinator, Anabella Estrada, (408) 960-4157 or email mamochis@aol.com.
SJV Crab Feed '06:
Fabulous Food - Live Auction - Dancing.
January 28.
I.E.S Hall, 1401 Santa Clara Street, San Jose. Event Times:
San Jose District 4 Conference: Over the last five years, the District 4 Conferences on Priorities have been a great way for Councilman Chuck Reed to gather feedback from the community to determine what is important to the community. This year's conference Saturday, January 28, from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM, at the Alviso Youth Center, 5040 N. First St. in Alviso. Come and add your input. If you would like periodic updates on what is happening in the District and notices of community meetings, please send an email message to District4@SanJoseCa.gov. To visit the District 4 web site, click here. The next two Town Hall Meetings will be on on Thursday, February 16, from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM, and Saturday, May 6, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM. The Hurricane Katrina Committee of St. John Vianney Parish is looking for DONATIONS and we need your help. We are in need of items to be used as auction and raffle prizes in conjunction with our up-coming Mardi Gras/Katrina Dinner & Auction on March 4. If you'd like to make a donation of an auction or raffle item, please contact Jerry Walker at (408) 251-1466 or email JayDub@ix.netcom.com for more information. The largest gathering of Catholics in the United States takes place each Spring at the Anaheim Convention Center, across the street from Disneyland. Called the Religious Education Congress The workshops offered at the Congress are amazing. This year the dates are March 31 through April 2. Check it out at www.recongress.org.
Coming Events:
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To add your email
address to (or remove from) other SJV Parish email lists, click
here, or send an email request to newsletter@sjvnews.net,
or phone Ellen Turner at (408) 272-9234. We will use your email address
for SJV Parish business only. No addresses will be visible to others.
Visit our parish web site at: www.sjvnews.net. |
the centralized parish services, ministries, activities, and programs of
the Diocese of San Jose.
Centralized
parish services include detention ministry, where Fr. Paul Mensa works
with juveniles and adults in detention. Centralized services include
publishing the Valley Catholic (the Diocesan newspaper), the Office for
the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults, the Office of
Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, and all the other services that
could not be handled at the local parish level.
Ray
also wrote and submitted a story about the Deanery 6
"Vision of Justice"
workshop that has been in the planning process for several months. Most
of those planning meetings have been at SJV Parish Office Center, since
members of our Parish Council, together with our parish Social Justice
Liaison, Brendan Cunning, and SJV JustFaith alumni, took the lead in
getting this workshop together. That story is on page 5 of the same
January issue of the Valley Catholic. 
Please
join us on this evening of celebration, reflection and solidarity. 
There will be a night of spiritual reflection,
which could be useful to parishioners.
"How Can I Maintain Personal Balance with Family, Work, and
self?"
by Dr. André Delbecq, professor at Santa Clara University. The event
will be held Thursday,
February 2,
7-9 PM, at St Joseph of Cupertino, in their New Hall. The address is
10110 North De Anza Blvd., Cupertino. This event is sponsored by Catholic
Cemeteries, the Diocese of San Jose, and by St. Joseph of Cupertino
Church. 